Everlasting Light
by dixonsgreene
Summary: Beth never would have thought that the prison would be overtaken by the Governor and engulfed in flames. No one expected it. What was even more unexpected was the bond she formed with Daryl, a person who she once hated and he returned the feeling, after they were forced to escape together. Some cursing and sexual situations. Vaguely different events from the show and slightly OOC.


Everlasting Light is a Bethyl fanfiction that starts at the mid-season finale of Season 4.

Rating: T, but may become M due to cursing, sexual situations, and violence.

The events in this story is different from the show and rearranged. Daryl does not like Beth, and Beth has mutual feelings. Daryl thinks Beth is weak and sees her as a frail little girl who has no chance in surviving. Beth sees Daryl as a cruel, sadistic man who has no heart or feelings.

Now presenting Everlasting Light:

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><p>Daryl Dixon was in the midst of a battle that didn't seem like it would end anytime soon.<p>

The Governor won, there was no sugar-coating it. He used his persuasive ways to tear down what was Daryl's and so many other's home for the past few months to ashes. Fire has ignited the prison and surrounding small buildings. Daryl has to wipe his eyes every several seconds just to regain his sight. Screams surround him and so does the gunshots that break the sound of the cackling fire. Daryl doesn't even know where to go to first himself, to be truthful. His mind is still playing an endless slide show of Hershel's beheading mere minutes before the prison is in the current state it is in. His mind is still playing an endless slide show of Maggie and Beth screaming in agony. Maggie is strong, but Beth, he can't say the same. Daryl knows she has done nothing wrong to him, but he still can see the scar on her wrist from her failed suicide attempt and the fearful look in her eyes when she looks at walkers or anything that isn't easy for her. She is a personified version of weakness, and Daryl had no tolerance for the weak.

Daryl narrowly misses a walker on the ground that tries to take a bite out of his foot. Daryl stomps on its head and continues running. He has to find his motorcycle and get out of here. He hasn't seen anyone from the prison except for Tyreese a while back who was killing walkers.

As a matter of fact, Daryl highly doubts any of them are still alive at this point when you can barely see in front of you, much less walkers that snap their decayed teeth at you and try to take a bite of you. Daryl can just see a hint of one of the black wheels of his motorcycle and instantly relief flooded his body. He was scared someone would take it, which now seems ridiculous now that he is thinking about it. No one in the prison would be capable of riding it, especially as big of one that he has.

Three walkers surround the bike and Daryl quickly shoots at them in the head, effectively making them slump to the ground dead. After killing a few more walkers, he finally makes it to the shiny bike and revs the engine. Surrounding walkers slowly turn his way and begin to drag their feet towards it. Daryl smiles a smile filled with adrenaline and deliriousness. That is until he sees a figure running towards him. The figure is a female with blonde hair that has blackened due to the ash in the air. Beth. Daryl sighs audibly and motions for her to get on the bike.

"Get on," Daryl says and moves up higher on the bike for space for her. He isn't sure if she heard what he said, because she freezes like a deer in headlights. The hell is wrong with this girl?

"Y'heard me, I ain't got all day! You get on, or you get eaten," Daryl growls and Beth wakes up from her trance. Walkers start to come closer to the bike and Daryl is about to ride away without her with him when she finally climbs onto the bike. Daryl doesn't wait for her to hold onto him because if she is that stupid to not hold on, she isn't worth saving.

. . .

Beth felt her arms protesting against her as she continued to hold onto Daryl. She doesn't know how long they have been on his death trap of a bike, but she knows that it has been long enough that her eyes are drooping and she can feel Daryl taking sleepy breaths against her torso. She has tried to stay as far away from him as possible during the ride. She knows that if she gets too close that he will yell at her and if she doesn't she could potentially fall off the bike and they both know that he wouldn't wait for her to get up and get back on.

She didn't know who was alive or who wasn't. Beth was hopeful that her sister has survived, for she hasn't seen her since she saw her, Sasha, and Bob fleeing from the prison. Beth tried to run after them, but she couldn't. Between the hazy air and the walkers that surrounded her that were taller than her, she didn't know where her sister went. She was lost. She thought she saw Rick and the Governor somewhere but she might have hallucinated.

Then she heard the familiar sound of a motorcycle starting up. She looked around to see Daryl about to flee the prison as well. Beth tried to run as fast as she could but it turned into stumbled steps that had her almost tripping over her own feet. Daryl spotted her, thankfully, and told her to get on. Beth was about to, when she suddenly froze.

She started thinking about her father, and how his belongings are at the prison. She began to think about how she can run into the prison, try not to get caught on fire, shot, or eaten, and try to grab his stuff as a reminder of him. Daryl broke these plans with another annoyed "get on the bike" and Beth finally did. Thinking back on it now, Beth still doesn't know if she should have grabbed the stuff. It would've been a risk, a terrible one at that. If she would've gone through with it, people would have to go into the prison to find her belongings as a reminder of when she was alive. Although, the thought of something that she had of her dad's may have helped the emptiness inside her now.

Or maybe it wouldn't have. She'll never know anyway.

Beth begins to see a clearing of a nearby town and feels a slimmer of hope. Daryl speeds up the motorcycle and creates an even bigger din with the bike. Beth has to hold on even tighter to his torso to prevent herself from falling off. Abruptly, Daryl slams on the brakes and Beth almost flies off the bike head first. She annoyingly blows a piece of hair out of her face and gets off the bike. Daryl has stopped in front of an abandoned trailer park that looks like it could be in a horror movie. Swings on a swing set are eerily swinging like someone was just there. The trailers all have dirt sprayed on them and dirty, bloody hand prints.

"Are you jus' gonna stand there?" Daryl asks incredulously.

Beth has to remind herself in that moment to not growl like a dog at him. She is now rethinking about her choice to be with Daryl. Anything or anyone would've been better. Now thinking about it, being eaten by a walker or engulfed in the fire may have been better. Daryl walks up to the front door of the abandoned trailer and Beth trudges behind him. Daryl opens the door with a gentleness that Beth didn't know he had. Even though she knows the reason behind why he did that she still expected him to wretch open the door with a crowbar or slam into it, knocking it off the hinges.

The trailer has a rotten smell to it and has dust coating every object in the place. It has a small bed in the middle of the room and a dirty leather couch. While Beth observes all the problems with the house, she doesn't notice Daryl's criticizing stare.

"Ain't going to get better than this, princess. I would start gettin' used too this 'cause this is the best I'm gonna get for both of us."

"Can I not look around a trailer without you critiquing my actions?" Beth lies because she knows that she is complaining about it mentally. She can't help it. Every place she has stayed at during the apocalypse and before has been nice. The farm-house was nice and so was the prison, therefore she hasn't ever had any exposure to the life Daryl has lived.

"Most of your actions is complaining. 'ts hard to expect anything else from you," Daryl glares at Beth, daring her to deny this assumption.

Beth begins to say something when Daryl cuts her off again. "Go to sleep. I'll take the couch," he dismisses her like a child and Beth scoffs. As she goes to turn away, something firm yet soft hits her. She turns around to see a blanket that has dust on it. She looks at Daryl and he smirks.

"I don't want to hear you complaining that you're cold." And with that last insult, he turns around in the couch and faces with his back towards her. Beth rolls her eyes and walks into the bedroom. The bed has been stripped of its sheets and looks semi clean. Beth takes off her boots, wraps the blanket around herself, and lays down on the bed. Though she tries to prevent it, she still ends up with tears streaming down her face and soaking into the pillow that was previously there. This is her new life now.

**I really hope this was a good start to this Fanfiction. As you can see, they don't necessarily enjoy each other's company but I promise it will be a a Bethyl fanfiction. **

**If you wanted to know about me as an author, here are some things about me...**

**My name is Hannah and I'm 13, but my birthday is in 3 days! I may write not as good as other fanfictions but I'm going to really try hard with this fanfic. Also, I really want to be a writer when I grow up or something dealing with sports medicine because I play field hockey and other sports. Anyway, my favorite band is the Black Keys (the title of this story is actually a great Black Keys song) and that's really it I guess.**

**Furthermore, if you guys want to, can you give me some suggestions for how Daryl talks? I'm not sure if I got it right.**

**Please review, favorite, follow, and give any suggestions for this story!**


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